Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 7:24pm

A Rio Rancho man today was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of receiving child pornography, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Richard D. Crisman’s 97 month federal prison sentence will be followed by 25 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and will be required to register as a sex offender, the news release states.

Crisman was arrested in September 2011 as part of Operation Predator, an investigative effort by federal, state and local law enforcement affiliates of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force aimed at identifying individuals involved in the distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography through peer-to-peer file sharing programs, according to the news release.

Twenty-two search warrants were executed and eight defendants were arrested in September 2010 as part of Operation Predator. All eight defendants have been convicted of child pornography offenses and are serving prison sentences.

Crisman was charged with three counts of receipt of a visual depiction of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and three counts of possession of a matter containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the Attorney’s Office said.

In February 2012, he pleaded guilty to a receipt of child pornography charge, the news release reads. Under the plea agreement, the other counts of the indictment were dismissed when he was sentenced.